Millville facing decisions on commission vacancy

MILLVILLE - Vice Mayor James Quinn said he plans to remain on the City Commission through the end of the year before resigning to take his newly won seat on the Cumberland County Board of Chosen Freeholders.

“I won’t leave until I get sworn in as freeholder,” Quinn said Wednesday. “I’ll just finish out my time. There’s usually an end of year meeting. I’ll be part of that.”

Quinn, a Democrat, won a three-year term starting in January 2016 on the freeholder board in Tuesday’s voting. Under New Jersey law, a person can only hold one elected office at a time.

The same situation occurred in 2012 when Joseph Derella, who was vice mayor at that time, won his first term on the freeholder board. The outcome that time was a commission decision to appoint a former member, James Parent, rather than an unsuccessful candidate from the most recent commission election.

Quinn’s departure forces a decision on the remaining four commissioners on whom to name to fill the fifth seat. Commissioners are free to nominate whomever they want, but a majority of the four have to vote in favor to make an appointment.

“I hope there is some candidate they can compromise on but I don’t know,” Quinn said, referring to already deep disagreements among members. Quinn would not be voting on a replacement.

City Administrator Sue Robostello confirmed that commissioners have 30 days from when Quinn resigns to make an appointment.

Robostello said that, if an appointment is not made in that period, then the seat remains open until someone wins it in the next commission election. The next election is in November 2016.

Also on Wednesday, Commissioner Joseph Sooy said that he favors picking off the list of 2013 commission candidates who finished out of the running starting with the sixth-place finisher. Any other selection criteria would not interest him, he added.

“Every election is a snapshot in time and, when you take that picture that’s how it should be,” Sooy said. “So I would say the people chose five candidates, so you should appoint the sixth one. If they are not willing to appoint the sixth one, then I’m not willing to appoint anybody. That seems the only right.”